Miriam - March 5, 2022 at 4:45 PM Maryellen. My answer to your question as to whom I would sacrifice for Joy, is easy:- Justin for a start, closely followed by Amy, and then perhaps even Mia. Also Phoebe is leaving soon. However - no regulars need to be sacrificed. I am sure a quick Joy interlude could be done - be it in the shop with Linda or Susan with a bit of gossip, or with Fallon in the Tea Room. Then perhaps a quick chat with Lee, whilst in their neighbouring back gardens. It doesn't need to be lengthy as such, just an appearance...and I would love to hear how Stan is doing 😺😸...or even a chat with Tony about their love of their cars. If I remember rightly, they bonded over MG Midgets which they both own + love. Or was that my imagination 👩🔧🧑🔧🚗
Anneveggie - March 5, 2022 at 7:30 PM Just tried to post but it disappeared. To repeat briefly: Justin or Pip would not be missed by me. Amy needs to move somewhere else for a while.
maryellen - March 5, 2022 at 8:48 PM I could manage without useless Lee, also Jazzer, Jim and Kirsty in that order. I think Alice needs to get away for a time, while Chris + Martha and Amy sort out their future.
Am I alone in finding the upward inflection at the end of nearly every sentence uttered by Amy really irritating? She is one character I would not miss! I am finding the Chris, Amy and Alice triangle very tedious!
As I say every Sunday, for which I am getting far too repetative, I picked up on many subtle nuances in the TA omnibus. The main ones both included Fallon in differing ways. This is to do with the Harrison and his soon to be, baptism. However the one that struck most, was her saying that she would not be going to Alices "Birthday Bash" for Martha, as she couldn't look Alice in the eye. Fallon is so betwixt + between as to Alice + Chris, plus Martha, with all that might now happen. They all could lose a good + supportive friend in Fallon. Harrison is a firm friend to Chris. I expect there will repurcussions, when Chris tells all to Harrison, who also has to try to keep it quiet.
On a different note, I missed the fact that Rex had actually bought his narrow boat. I assumed he was renting it...but how long can he afford the loan payments and mooring fees??
...and where is he now parking his "taxi"? I doubt it is on the river bank but it has to be close by. I wonder if this could create another problem, along with objections, from other Ambridge residents.
I still wish Fallon would abandon the high ground and grow up. Petulant teenager at her age is ludicrous and just adds to the tediousness of this story.
Even I agree that the Jazzer + Tracy interludes at GG. is just silly. For a start - housekeeping would certainly know that an unoccupied room had been used. GG. must have some sort of CCTV for security purposes. BTW GG means Grey Gables NOT our wonderful Gary G.
However to me, the SW's are doing what they do best. This is to put in two far less meaningful stories, as the SWs slowly build up to a Big One. No guesses as to what this will be, over the next month or so. It's like a volcano - will it erupt or not.
I wonder how Jazzer and Tracy will cope, when they both lose their jobs at about the same time, as even Oliver cannot forgive Tracy this time. Why don't they build their love nest in the Cricket Pavillion? As after all Tracy has the only key, and no-one wants to play the game. They would be secluded + safe there, and could make it warm + cosy.
I have heard some dreadful episodes of the Archers but this one takes the biscuit. For whom are the script writers writing this drivel ? I have decided not to listen any more but will no doubt take sneaky looks to read the comments others have written to see when /if I might return to listening.
It's the Lull before The Storm. This is to my thoughts. I will continue to listen + enjoy, on whatever level it is ...as it is a lovely form of escapism, well for me. I might well end up as the "last one standing". So be it.
That was indeed an absolute load of rubbish. We’re the pathetic innuendos some attempt to get the writers onto comedy shows? If so a total failure. How on earth was an actor of the level of Michael Cochrane reduced to taking part? We have spoken on this blog about which characters might be replaced. We should be looking at which writers should be getting P45s.
Daniel Thurman SW this week. Do not know of him myself but the info is always listed on “Sounds” (Thursdays episode page). Other days a one line synopsis of the nights episode is shown.
Dreadful stuff! I thought the old theatrical cliche of the comic Scotsman was dead, but not in Ambridge! Why does TA employ such third-rate writers and producers when other R4 drama series have such good ones? Though to be fair, it's the editor setting the tone.
Daniel Thurman joined TA in 2020 and has written two programmes since then, until now of course. The other episodes were 'When Johnny attempts to support a friend' and 'Roy has faces an uncomfortable request.' I don't think his most recent offering is any better. In three TA blogs I have read, all of them say it is ridiculous, to say the least!
Perhaps this SW was given a 3rd chance, for whatever reason, by the editor. It might have been the last chance to show, that this is what the avid TA listeners, want to hear. The Editor needs to read these comments to learn otherwise.
I agree with Maryellen the main fault lies with the editor. He manages to extract dross from many writers. If he has given Mr Thurman a third chance that only amplifies his total lack of judgement. Third chance, third rate- third form? Pathetic!
May I very politely make another comment, in reply? Whatever the SW wrote, surley the characters have to be acknowledged, for actually "acting" it out in the best way possible. Oliver certainly was in character.
I’m not blaming the cast who were doing the job they’re paid for, to the best of their ability, but the whole scenario was so awful. It would have been impossible to redeem it.
Susan for once, has actually talked sense. She is right, in suggesting that perhaps Neil should think about retiring. I am sure, as to working in so many places over so many years, with proper advice, he will have a good "consolidated" pension pot, which will not leave him short. Mike's appearance at New Year, and his news, seems to have made the intended impact, after all. Hannah is well capable to take over Berrow Farm as the sole Manager, and also stand up to Justin + the BL board, in her own way. I still think that Stella + Hannah, will join forces in some way in the future. These ideas, I am keeping secret for now.
I had to chuckle at Oliver's sigh at the end after Tracy had referred to him as a pal. Earlier he had stressed to Jazzer that Tracy was his employee and not to be regarded as a "pal" in the work situation. I think his sigh was because he realised the irrepressible Tracy had no real notion of the distinction. A kind man, and hopefully Tracy will repay him with more sensible behaviour.
I agree with you Janice. Oliver is 'old school' with high standards. He is indeed a kind man and surely Tracy has learned a lesson. The less we hear about her private life with Jazzer the better.
Oliver seemed correct, in giving Tracy a final warning as to her conduct. To have dismissed her, he would have left GG open to an unfair dismissal tribunal. The intent was there but it didn't go any further. Tracy (and Jazzer) were lucky in that.
I would have thought that the annexe, which Jim had built on - to house both Jazzer + Webster and now Tracy, is surely a distance from Alistairs bedroom?
I wonder how Webster is doing 🕷🕸 or is she now preying on the so many, incarcerated in the Ambridge Cupboard.
I am a couple of days behind this week so can only surmise what has been going on! But it sounds to me, reading the above, that personal relationships are becoming a bit too personal! I shall catch up tonight.
Kate is Martha's Aunty and Peggy is her great grandma. So why weren't they at either of Martha's birthday parties - along with Kirsty + Rex. The re-wilding interviews could have been held on another day. Poor writing as to the date/timescale, well in my opinion.
Me too. I suppose the salaries for the one (Phoebe/Kirsty) and a half (Rex) staff are coming out of Peggy’s endowment fund which won’t last for ever, as someone here said earlier. That’s why the Project needs to be financially viable (I guess the scriptwriters were using the more loaded word ‘commercially’, to intensify the clash between Kate’s business sense and Kirsty’s fluffy pink idealism).
The interview seemed very non-real. Why didn’t Rex ask Kirsty why she gave up her previous job in conservation (she couldn’t hack it), why weren’t terms and conditions mentioned, and why didn’t there seem to be any other applicants following Rex’s advert for the job - has word got round that the Ambridge Project is iffy?
That’s true. I can’t see how the Project including campsite runs with only one and a half employees either. The Abridge Fairy must be running the pig business and taxi service while Rex is laying hedges (I’d have thought hedges were the opposite of ‘wild’ but I guess some compromises are needed!)
Many of our bird and mammal species are being lost because of the removal of the habitat which hedges provide. I am pretty sure that many rewinding projects support the re establishment of hedges. Layering is an important technique.
I was relieved to hear Kate decide to drop her application. She was so full of herself previously she was unbearable to listen to. Kirsty behaved with restraint against Kate's onslaught in my opinion. I cannot imagine how the rewilding makes money but can only hope that it does well.
Rex still has his taxi driving and his pigs at LL so it can't give that much of an income as he still needs two other jobs. Kirsty could stay on at GG on a part-time basis so to then be able to pay her way at Roy's and enjoy a few good night's out.
I think Kate has undergone of of those occasional changes of character that sometimes happen in The Archers Probably engineered just to allow Kirsty to stay in the village and not decamp to Bulgaria, which turned out to be a no-go under the present circumstances.
There needs to be some joined-up thinking and cooperation between various members of the script writers team and more logical direction from the Editor. Stories are becoming chaotic and unbelievable and I am beginning to loose patience with both the Alice lot and the rewilding gang.
And better direction definitely needs to start before we return to six episodes a week
I’m now thinking that Kate knew she was not the one you would be chosen so jumped before she was pushed and that way came out the interview smelling of roses in the other eyes for being so generous of spirit🤣
I think the scriptwriters were avoiding a difficult showdown between Peggy who as a business woman herself appreciated Kate’s ideas for keeping the project running successfully, and Rex who at Alice’s suggestion had already promised the job to Kirsty. Kate is no fool, possibly twigged what would happen and was sparing her grandmother the aggro. If so, she deserved the pat on the back.
I am so pleased for Kirsty. I predict, that she will become the "senior" person of the re-wilding scheme, which is after all, her dream just like Peggy's. I hate to even suggest this but:- could this be approaching the time - Peggy in other words, the lovely June Spencer, takes her leave from Ambridge. I hope not. At 102yrs of age she could go on for a while yet and still give her input.
I have a pair of blackbirds and a pair of robins, roosting in my beech hedge. It is not quite re-wilding as such, but I hope that nests will soon be built and survive.
Sorry, have I missed something? When did Phoebe decide to emigrate to Australia? Or perhaps it's Darkest Peru. It's certainly a very, very long way away from Ambridge and it will surely require a passport and a major expedition to go and visit her. Roy and Kate may have to save up for years and years to afford the trip. Not to mention the foreign language and strange food. There may even be dragons.
I am now feeling miffed - Eldest Small Person Who Has Left the Shoe didn't give me a goldfish when they moved up to deepest, darkest Manchester.Should I let them know they were remiss? I'm sure if I write them a letter the mail coach will be able to get it to them within the next month or so. ('Though the fish might not enjoy the return journey.)
Phoebe is one of those very rare characters who’ve left the enclave and returned - but will it happen again? Has she left us forever, or will she do a Debbie - returning briefly at long intervals? The RW Project will miss her drive. Kirsty’s one of Nature”s lieutenants, not captains.
There have been a few who left and returned, I can think of Kate and Adam, Kenton had prolonged absences Tom and Kirsty merely took long holidays, I agree the Kirsty and Rex don’t have the same level of drive or self belief that Phoebe has, although the Ambridge on the couch podcast nicknamed Rex Captain Pugwash.
In the rosy glow of Phoebe’s departure,Kate and Roy were congratulating each other on their successful parenting,forgetting that while growing up,a lot of her stability and encouragement came from the years that Haley was her loving step mother.
What surprised me about Phoebe leaving, was that she was driving herself in her own car "up North", to the Highlands of Scotland. I had no idea she had a car of her own.
Portia, Hayley was always my favourite Ambridge resident. I was really sorry when she left. Kate had nothing to do with Phoebe's upbringing. I have a feeling that Phoebe called Hayley "mum "but when Kate came on the scene ,that all changed. I can't remember when Phoebe got her cut glass accent I get them all mixed up. They all sound the same. Was she the one who went to Oxford or maybe Cambridge. What on earth did she study?
Pheobe went to Oxford, to the delight of Jennifer. I think she studied something like politics or similar, but I might be confusing this with something else. Pheobe returned to Ambridge, and lived with Roy, until now. At least Kate made an effort as her Mum, on her return, and they certainly got on well in their own ways.
One thing I had forgotten about Pheobe, was that she spent some time with Kate, + her half siblings (Nolly + ?) plus Kate's partner, in S.Africa, for a while. I am not sure how old she was, so as to when. Was it after Hayley had left or before - no idea.
As for her accent, it always puzzled me why she never picked up Roy or Hayley’s accent seeing how much of her young life was spent with them. And going to Oxford was far too late to influence it. I can only assume it was the Aldridge influence that made her sound so différent. Can anyone remember which school she went to? Was it Borchester Green or did J & B pay for a private school?
From the BBC’s TA Characters page (full story of Phoebe’s early years by Keri Davies) Kate took care of Phoebe for the first 18 months after Phoebe’s birth. Roy was an occasional babysitter. Phoebe went to South Africa to reconnect with her mother and half siblings with Roy and Hayley’s reluctant blessing.
I think ‘trivial’ could be added to Archerphile’s description of TA’s current storylines as chaotic and unbelievable, which I thought was very apt. When I checked out Keri’s article above, I read the blog posts below it which were mostly from bloggers I didn’t remember (GG and Nemo - who I sadly miss - were the only names I recognised).
Their posts dated from Sean O’Connor’s editorship and the beginnings of the Rob/Helen saga, and it struck me how ‘meaty’ they were, reflecting the meatiness of TA then. There was light relief but the stories were believable (like the shepherd hut saga), not the ridiculous and outdated music hall stuff we get now, often involving Jazzer. That was when TA was a compelling, nightly listen, and it could be so again with an editor and writers of the right calibre. Nowadays it’s becoming a rather dreary habit!
In an item on today’s BBC website about a Welsh couple who make vodka from sheep’s milk, the idea is traced back to The Archers, specifically Toby’s approach to Helen Archer about buying her discarded whey to make milk-based alcohol. The Welsh vodka producer said he hadn’t heard it on The Archers, but believed he was the first in the world to actually do it.
I can’t remember on what grounds Helen turned Toby down, but she clearly missed a trick!
Sorry that should be first in the UK, the farmer said he got the idea from someone in NZ who was possibly first the world, Shows Toby (and TA’s agricultural advisor) were on the ball.
Well remembered Maryellen. I also saw the article about the production of Vodka from sheep milk/whey, or whatever. I had totally forgotten that Toby had the same idea as to his gin, which Helen totally dismissed.
If only....with T❤b❤y. What a difference that might have made. But that is Ambridge history sadly. 🙅♀️
I picked up on something in the Sunday morning TA programme, which I hadn't spotted in the week. Alice showed Chris photos of Party No.1, including one of Jennifer + Brian "dancing" with Martha. When Alice rang Chris to see how she was doing at Party No.2, Chris said how much she was enjoying the bubbles in the garden. Does that mean Martha is now starting to toddle about? She was after all, pulling herself up onto the furniture, a short while ago. Chris so should have swallowed his pride, as to Brian's cottage offer. I fully understand his refusal as it came from The Aldridges. However I still wonder if the flat with the steep stairs up to it (which has been mentioned more than once), is an ideal place for Martha, as she gets more mobile. I think that this decision to stay in the flat, may have consequences of some sort, in the future. Only time, plus the SW's, will tell.
Alice also talked about "our daughter" which of course, Martha is. I only mention this, as Alice only now seems able to accept + acknowledge, what this actually means. This is that they are both her loving + caring, parents.
I wait in anticipation as to when Fallon, despite what she said to Amy when she left Ambridge yet again, tells Alice what she knows. I wonder if this will make a difference in the divorce/custody/mediation talks?
Roy should get a proper aquarium or perhaps make a pond. The RSPCA says goldfish bowls aren’t suitable and don’t have animal welfare in mind. I’m very surprised that Kirsty hasn’t told him this, being Ambridge’s animal welfare supporter. Remember the Berrow pigs?
Jim was lovely in his conversation with Alice. He had wise words for her and delivered them in such a kind way. I agree Maryellen that Kirsty needs to wake up about the goldfish bowl!
I wonder what the light-hearted interlude will be tonight. These are such fill-in parts, in preparation of two big and upcoming SL's. These revolve around Berrow Farm and Alice/Chris in mediation, going forwards to the divorce proceedings. My big question is - will Fallon tell all?
Alice has done well in fighting her addiction and has shown that she can take care of Martha. As her mother she is right to want to take on the role of primary carer. She has family support and Chris is nearby to share decisions about Martha’s future. Of course if she lapses again it will be a different matter and she must know this. A very important incentive not to go there again. Chris seems to want to take Martha out of her hands apart from occasional access when he is at work and must cut a little more slack I think. She has shown that she is a caring mother.
Alice has moved very quickly from telling Chris that every day is a battle and she needs to focus on herself, to doing fine and wanting to be Martha’s primary caregiver. I am not convinced she is ready yet, even with the support from her parents. Also is she planning on returning to some form of work or expecting Chris to pay support? which will lead to more financial debate which Brian was so keen to avoid….. All in all things are set to get messy, and Alice has yet to find out about Amy!
Agree KP, but Alice did show that her confidence is growing and I think that in itself is good. However Chris showed again, his determination to stay ( having become) Martha’s primary carer and however gentle he may be we are getting glimpses of a ruthless side to his character. This worries me !
Isn’t the classic test of who a young child thinks of as its primary carer ‘who does it instinctively turn to when it cries?’ Assuming both careers are present. If Martha could be given a choice, I reckon it would be Chris. (They don’t have to live in the flat forever!)
In my experience if crying children have a choice they'll go to where they think they'll get the most sympathy. Given that Chris seems to be the stricter parent Martha might go to Alice.
Was last night’s fish drama supposed to be an attempt at humour? If so, it totally failed in this house, it was just excruciating listening to a pathetic Roy catastrophising over a goldfish Oh, and by the way, it couldn’t be put in a garden pond, the cold would kill it stone dead!
The RSPCA discourages keeping fish in outdoor ponds for various reasons (cold wasn’t mentioned), so it would have to be an internal feature. I thought that episode was weird. I see Keri Davies is back soon.
When you go to a proper fish shop like Maidenhead Aquatics, you can select from various breeds of fish (comets, shebunkins, koi carp, goldfish etc ) that are bred for outdoor pond conditions. You are advised to lower them in their bag very slowly into the pond so that the water temperature has time to equilibrate and not shock the fish. Indoor fish, intended to be kept in an aquarium (or, inadvisedly, a small bowl) are a completely different “kettle of fish” and should never be put in a garden pond. Here endeth the fish lesson! 😂 🐡 🐠 🐟 😂
Roy has usually been one of my favourite characters,except when he had the affair with Elizabeth Pargetter , resulting in the break up of his marriage to Haley.Last night however he was made to behave like a hysterical idiot,driving Jacob mad over the care of the goldfish.I sincerely hope that is the final bit of padding relating to fishy Kate and Roy from the SWs.
All I want to add, is that the first mediation event, did not go as well as I expected it would. This is just the start of a very long Ambridge story, which will have many twists + turns. One of my many thoughts, is that Chris + Alice will become feisty + antagonistic, just as they seemed to becoming more friendly again.
I so hope that, before it gets to the Family Court, a solution will resolve itself somehow. This I doubt though. Susan will have her say to Chris to try and influence him. This relates to the Aldridges + monies, which always has seemed a priority to her and that she is a worthy grandma, for Martha.
I so agree with Portia, in that both:- a) the Fishy Tale, or should that be tail b) the Bedroom debacle at GG with Jazzer + Tracy are just as described. This is pure padding + fill in scenarios, until the more serious stuff appears. These are Berrow Farm, along with Chris/Amy/Martha. These will affect so many lives + futures, in very many ways, be they good or more probably, bad.
This is a very debatable thought .. Should the 7.00pm listen still be called - The Archers - or should it be re-named. Thoughts are:- 1) Life in Ambridge, 2) Ambridge Village, 3) Ambridge.
I say this, as The Archers are no longer the main characters be they be farmers or have other enterprises. Farming is now far less mentioned. These days it is all about village life + it's inhabitants, their lives, families and antics.
After hearing Peggy with Tony tonight, she seemed to be making amends with him and acknowledging his work at Bridge Farm. This to me though, is a warning flag, that Peggy might disappear soon. Hopefully, it will only be just as far as The Laurels. She can bond again with Christine, who will be a very suitable companion once again.
I’m pretty sure Chris said recently that even Peggy popped round to see Martha when she was with him and his family on her birthday so plenty of Ambridge type of life left in her yet it seems 🤗.
I understand that Chris feels that Alice cannot yet be fully trusted to be a safe caring mother to Martha. It's too early in her life without alcohol and, as someone said, it's only five minutes ago that she was saying it's a huge struggle every day etc. It's not going to be pleasant to hear the divorce details and rows. I'd like more light-hearted fare specially with what's going on the the world now.
Some variety would be nice instead of one major story of misery and confrontation interspersed with sheer stupidity. I'm not listening at the moment just keeping in touch with the synopsis and this blog until something more interesting and less depressing comes along 🤞
It was interesting last night to hear the two dads discussing the news concerning the latest Alice/Chris mediation session in a very level headed way and surprising to hear for once that Brian was not in favour of Alice taking on the responsibility of prime carer of Martha over Chris at present anyway. However if,news seeps out about Chris and Amy’s short liaison, and becomes common knowledge, will he change his mind and back his daughter? I too enjoyed the conversation between Peggy and Tony and feel pleased that the Rewilding is in safe hands.
Serial adulterer Brian Isn’t in a position to judge Chris on his one night of passion. (I wonder too how faithful Alice has been when drunk - remembering the incident with Harrison.) Brian is mainly concerned with the financial implications, as his conversation with Alice showed.
And talking of Alice’s faithfulness, wasn’t there some question of her having a liaison with a colleague at that engineering firm she worked for.? Can’t remember exact details but think it was at the beginning of her alcohol addiction when she was behaving very erratically.
I only seem to be able to post as a reply to someone else’s post, hence the disconnection between my last comment and Portia’s post. If I try to start a new comment I just keep getting the dreaded “Whoops” page. This happen on both Safari and Chrome, it’s very frustrating!
I remember now how inebriated Alice brought a fellow drinker back to Willow Cottage one night for you can guess what. He made a embarrassed exit when her parents unexpectedly appeared. I wonder if Chris knows about that.
....but that was then! Since then, Alice has given birth to Martha, been in re-hab. has been bonding with Martha, and trying to sort things out with Chris, in the most friendly way possible. All will change, of that I am sure, and this situation will become, quite heated in time. I just wish, that this is to be decided just between, Alice and Chris. The grandparents - Neil, Susan, Brian, Jennifer should not have a input, which would be so biased, and so upset what might or could, happen.
Alice is doing well, as she is still not drinking any alcohol. I admire her for staying firm as to her convictions. She needs to be given some accolade, for what she has achieved with this, and her bonding with Martha.
Susan is annoying me, pontificating so much to Alice. There are many good reasons for her diatrube at her, but these were a while ago, pre-rehab Alice. Susan needs to forget the past, and to now concentrate more on her grand-daughter, in that her beloved son Chris, might not be Martha's ideal or best, carer. It will go to court, or will it?
Wasn't Chris pushing to be the final arbiter in al decisions about Martha's future? It seems to me that that is what pushed Alice into her current stance. If he had been more willing to share decisions with Alice, I sense that she would have been more willing to share the parenting.
Sadly, Miriam, our hopes of a reconcilationare looking less and less likely to be fulfilled.
I agree with you, Annieveggie - the defining (and symbolic) moment before the christening when Alice carelessly dropped Martha and Chris caught her must be seared into his soul. No amount of rehab and subsequent sobriety will remove the risk, and the sensible thing is to minimise it.
I sympathise with Susan and Neil too. Like Chris they have invested an enormous amount of practical care and love in Martha’s upbringing, and the possibility of her future being jeopardised in this way must be very hard, as well as having to support Chris in his grief at the potential loss of his closest companion’.
I am loving the comments about the Alice/Chris/Martha scenario. It shows how all of us, think so very differently, and my thoughts have already been hinted at. The care of Martha, is for me of the greatest importance, by one of her parents and totally reliant on others.
I wonder if Alice volunteering for work in the shop, was simply due that, she could then see Martha coming + going from the flat, and so could see far more of her daughter. I still think that the steep stairs to the flat, might have a significance.
As I seem to be here on my own, I am repling to Maryellen's post...just for fun 🤣 This relates to Alice's "I Want" list with my thoughts + ideas. This is posted as if Alice is now speaking. 1) I (Alice) don't really want to divorce Chris, as I still love him. I suggested this to him, and told him to tell all of my past, so to sort things out. How I now regret this. 2) I so want Martha to live with me. At last, I finally realise that I am her mother and I so want her constantly in my life. 3) I know that I can finally care for Martha in the best way possible, in my home, which is far more suitable for a toddler, than the flat above the shop. 4) How I wish both Chris's and my parents, would just let us sort things out between us, in the best way possible. 5) Yes. I was so very often totally drunk even at work, and a true alcoholic, with bottles hidden in so many secret places. However I have been in re-hab. and have a wonderful person to talk to if temptation happens,and I am proud of myself in that I haven't had a drink for over 6 months. 6) I expect that things will become very anxious and heated in the next few months. I just hope that I don't succumb to the bottle again, and ruin things yet again, as to my daughter + marriage.. I must have willpower and stay strong!
7) I Alice, am so very much missing my great friend Amy, who is so helpful + supportive. She is a wonderful person, who I can really rely on, talk to and tell her, how I am feeling. How I miss her..
From its picture, the village shop looks like the ground floor conversion of a relatively modern house, so I assume the stairs to the first floor flat are the house’s internal staircase and unlikely to be steeper than the staircases that many toddlers grow up with. They didn’t seem to be worrying Natasha and Tom for themselves or future children and Hazel was exaggerating for her own ends.
I don’t know how old The Nest is but in my experience cottages, especially older ones, tend to have steeper staircases than houses. In any case, Chris can move out if he feels it’s a problem.
There was an earlier suggestion from bloggers that the buggy could be parked downstairs. How old was Henry when Helen lived there? She went back to Bridge Farm for moral support rather than dissatisfaction with the flat (as I remember - could have got the timing wrong!)
Yes, the best solution would be to keep it downstairs if there is a space for it. I think Alice is over reacting by going for full custody and should just have insisted she had input over Martha’s day to day care. Equally Chris by making it clear he expected to have full control has pushed Alice in this direction. Before it escalates further they need to get together and reach a compromise that as with any couple the ideal is to make decisions about their children together.
The obvious, and fairest decision would be 50:50 shared parenting, and I would hope that the mediator and lawyers would suggest this. But it’s the script writers that are in control so maximum conflict is pretty much guaranteed.
You are so right, in that the SW's will certainly stir the situation into an awful debacle. It will become vocal + nasty, when it could have been solved, in a quieter/simpler/friendly way. It will end in tears from some-one, but whom? This could be from so many:- Alice, Susan, Amy, Jennifer, and not forgetting Chris. Then there is Fallon who knows so much. All I hope is that the SW's do this S/L justice, as to the world and life today.
There surely could be a mutual compromise, to sort ALL or is that too much Wishful Thinking?8
This latest "tangled web" situation, just reminds me of both, the Helen/Rob and the Kirsty/Phil, SL's. This is to get the most out of us listeners, to agree or not! It's getting so intriguing and debatable, as to what will actually be revealed + resolved. It will be a long listen.
For once after the TA Omnibus, I have no further comments to add. This must be a 1st. Except (couldn't resist) - Peggy is still a "Wiley Old Bird" and still manipulative. She is just more subtle now.
Not for the first time I’ve lost the plot - how did the Berrow news get out when it wasn’t Hannah, Neil, Susan, Justin, Brian or Lilian who blabbed?
I thought Tracey’s rudeness to Justin was unwarranted and unpleasant. He wa remarkably mild and tolerant in return.. Why shouldn’t Berrow be closed if it’s unprofitable? It’s not a public service. The village was anti it. Its employees will get redundancy
We didn’t get all the ranting when Jazzer lost his job after Adam similarly closed down his fish operation. If Jazzer hadn’t thrown up his job with Tom’s pigs in a fit of pique, he’d be okay now. My heart doesn’t bleed for him!
PS. I understand Lanjan’s feelings about soundalikes - I’ve several times confused Justin and Oliver, and last night was one of them. No problem with anyone else, though.
I presumed it was down to Susan being unfriendly to Justin in the shop. He put two and two together and realised she must have heard about the closure. But that doesn't explain how Tony knew, does it? Lilian? Or another board member? But whether to stir up opposition or to drop Brian in it? The plot thickens. (Like the pigs.)
Yes, that was another example of people putting two and two together and making five! What Susan was upset about was Alice's behaviour; she has said nothing about Berrow's possible closure to anyone except Neil in response to him telling her the news. No wonder she was indignant when he then asked her if she had told anyone..
I thought it was Lilian - who after the "chat" with Susan, assumed it was common knowledge. Lilian can never keep a secret for long, as wasn't she partly responsible for spilling the beans on Alice in some way, after a glass of red wine each in the Dower House garden??
As to Tony being the Re-Wilding farming expert, I think that Adam is a far better canditate. This is for many reasons, too numerous to mention just now.
As a taster to my thoughts.. Adam did a lot of work on herbal lays with Pip. He thinks outside the box, as to the Aquaponics which sadly failed. He has knowledge of types of sheep + deer, so why not introduce suitable rare breeds of these, onto the re-wilding land. Adam would be far more suitable. This is just an initial reveal of my thoughts.
Tony has more time on his hands as he is retired for the most part and has years of farming experience behind him. This includes taking care of the countryside. I think he is a good choice as a consultant to the project.
And now it all starts! There will now hopefully, some interesting S/L's to follow, what with tempers, scheming, sculldugery, not forgetting those that think they know best, be it family or business concerns, of which there are many appearing. As to friendships, I wonder how many will actually survive such as Alice + Amy, not forgetting Fallon.
There will probably be even more fireworks from Alice if/when she learns that Fallon also knew about Amy and Chris.Agreed,that situation was badly timed but Alice had already spurned Chris’s attempts at being affectionate towards her and reaffirmed her desire for a divorce.Hopefully she might think on this when she calms down.Much as I dislike the character, I hope that Amy’s revelation won’t trigger an alcohol relapse.
100% agree AP. Alice has always wanted both her bun and her halfpenny. She seems to think that she should be safeguarded in spite of the consequences she visits on others. Perhaps a severe shock awakening might bring her into the real world.
I think the problem has its roots in Chris's lack of understanding of alcoholism. I don't think he ever attended any of the counselling sessions with Alice. He thought everything could just go back to normal asap. Alice knew she needed far more time to recover and that it would be a battle. I don't think she wanted a divorce, just the space and time apart to heal. I think she loves Chris still and did not really want a divorce. It was him who rushed the divorce. Now the idiot has by his behaviour destroyed the friendship between Amy and Alice. Any other woman would not have mattered so much, but now Alice is going to feel utterly betrayed and she will fight even harder for custody because she will not want Amy anywhere near her child. Years ago a relation of a friend of mine killed himself, not just because his wife had been unfaithful but because it transpired the affair was with his supposedly best friend, which left him without the support of his friend as well as without his wife. The repercussions cascade down through the family. The s/ws will no doubt extract every bit of drama from this. Hang on Alice, don't hit the bottle, better to channel it into anger instead.
I may not be entirely right about Chris not attending any of the sessions. Did he attend one when Alice was in rehab ? If he did then he didn't gain much understanding from it.
It's thinking about Martha that has stopped me listening for the time being, just as the effect on Henry stopped me listening to the Helen and Rob story.
Yes I stopped listening to the Helen and Rob story when it got too fraught, and don't really like all the trauma now. Children even when very young pick up on things and can be damaged.
Yes that is Mabel with baby Max, born at 35 weeks. The poor little scrap was in a special cot under UV light to begin with, with a cannula in his arm and regular heel pricks to check blood BUT he has come home now under the care of the community midwife, and is a joy. To me it is incredible how we can produce new life. I am a bit busier at present as I am doing what my mum in law did for us and am cooking dinners for the tired parents. Veggie casserole for son today and an attempt at cooking a whole stuffed Tilapia fish in Philippino style, sort of!
I do agree with Janice regarding Chris lacking in very little understanding of alcoholism. I’ve felt this since the beginnings of this SL, however I would not be happy labelling him as an idiot. I do think he is a thinking man, and not insensitive, but he is confused by the situation he and Alice have created and is reacting defensively.
I am very sorry but I am not sure Alice entirely understands alcoholism. Her continual cries that I should have special treatment because I’m an alcoholic and if you don’t comply I shall be driven back to the bottle wears a little thin. Yes Alice you do have the illness but a little consideration for those close who are very affected by it would not come amiss.
I believe that Alice does fully understand her alcohol problem, but she still finds it difficult to not imbibe. Her driving force is Martha and how she now wants her living with her, in some way. This could be sorted - if Alice + Chris really talk about their daughter and what is best for her, as to their homes + lives.
I am with others in that - did Chris actually attend any meetings with his wife Alice, so to understand her problem, both then and how it could affect her. I can't remember any mention of this, but then the SW's could be keeping this a secret, for now.
As I have said before - I feel for Martha, who seems to be a pawn in this situation. She is though, always with her Mum or Dad, or either of the sets of grandparents. She is being so well cared for + loved with her family members, but these have differing ideas of her future life.
All the youngsters in Ambridge have had some sort of problems. 1)Lilly + Freddie, when Nigel died. 2)Mia, Jake + Poppy, after Nic passed away. 3)Henry + Jack - after the Rob situation 4) Rosie with her Mum Pip, and part-time dad, Toby
Now there is Martha, to follow in a similar pattern. There is one Ambridge child, who has loving parents. This is Xander, the son of Adam + Ian. There is still a complication in his life, which is the surrogacy with Lexi.
How I wish for a new Ambridge babe born, with no history nor complications. My thought is a simple one:- Fallon + Harrison!
Oops! On reading back, I have made a massive mistake, when I referred to loving parents in Ambridge. All the youngsters are well loved, of that there is no doubt..even Emma + Ed with George, who are all silent characters for now.
“Let battle commence” not only between Alice and Chris but the respective families too no doubt. The real victim will be little Martha of course 😧 Susan has yet to find out she has been hung by her own petard regarding the Berrow leak resulting a fall out with Tracy.
Poor Susan! Accused by Neil of telling about Berrow and then blamed by Tracy for not telling about Berrow! All she did was respect her vow of confidentiality to Neil (who didn’t respect his vow of confidentiality to Brian, though thanks to Susan’s loyalty it didn’t go any further). She’s an exception to many of Ambridge’s other residents at the moment, who seem to be getting steadily more unlikeable.
That was a lot of shouting last night! I don’t think the solicitor will be that interested in Chris’s liaison with Amy, it doesn’t make him a bad person anymore than Alice’s alcoholism does her. I find Alice quite unpleasant sober or drunk, but I could say that about quite a few characters. Chris’s behaviour has left something to be desired, he has not responded well to the stress of the last 18 months but why hasn’t he sought help.
It seems to me that Chris is a character who feels that he has the strength to plough through problems without help, only turning to his parents for practical needs. I don’t think it would occur to him that he might need help, even though he does seem to understand that he is confused by the behaviour of others.
I too find Alice an unlikeable character whether she is drunk or sober. Chris's behaviour has not been perfect regarding his understanding of alcoholism but who would behave perfectly in the given situation. Alice demands special treatment by everyone or else she will go back to the bottle and it will be their fault. What a burden to place on others. Martha is loved by both parents and, in time, they will sort the custody situation out. I can only hope both Alice and Chris will be able to co-exist peaceably and think of Martha.
I am being different again, in that I am admiring Alice, as she is now but not before. I noticed when Chris dashed over to her with Martha (down those steep flat stairs), the first thing Alice did was to take Martha upstairs + put her in a cot. This to me does not sound like a mother, who cannot care for her daughter when she is required to do so.
I hate the idea of a court order, as to custody + visiting rights relating to Martha. This will also affect, Susan + Niel and Brian + Jennifer, as the grandparents. I wonder what "The Aunties" think - namely Emma + Kate (not the fish).
I think Chris is fiercely independent, whereas Alice is dependent on her family/family business for her home, plus financial and practical support, also her friends for the moral and emotional support she previously got from Chris. He is also fiercely committed to Martha's welfare, is fully aware of what alcoholism entails long-term and is understandably and risk averse.
I don't think asking for the final say on decisions regarding Martha's future, eg. schooling, means he is aiming for the control of a Victorian-style paterfamilias. He made it clear at the mediation session that all discussions on her upbringing would be mutual. On the grounds that he has the cooler head, I'd support his final say if the discussions ended in disagreement.
It seems Jim's advice to Alice has seriously misfired. Feeling good about herself involves making others feel bad about themselves, as she shifts the blame and guilt onto them. Her anti-Chris tirade was chillingly similar to her anti-Ruairi tirade - except this time she wasn't actually drunk.
As to Chris seeking help, when has the poor bloke had the time? Think of all he's got on his plate!
Finally, I have to say I'm very disappointed in Amy, not because she slept with Chris but because of her quivering jelly behaviour afterwards, She no longer tops my list of candidates for Chris's post-Alice partner and Martha's step-mum.......
It was very telling that Chris made light of his dalliance with Amy when he spoke to Alice saying that it just happened and implying it did not mean a long term relationship. Amy went over the top rushing round to Chris at 6 in the morning on the supposition that her revelation to Alice might lead to the bottle again. She has shown herself to be over emotional and indeed, Maryellen not a good bet as Chris’s future partner or Martha’s stepmum!
As I thought, my ideas are still so very different, and so it should be. I have sometimes been right, but more often wrong. I will keep scribbling my own TA story ideas, as I interpret what is happening and I have some great ideas at the moment.
...I am still thinking about the steep stairs, which are to + from the flat. These have been mentioned by Hazel, Susan + others, but just might be a typical TA "red herring" 🙅♀️
Arthur Hughes, who plays Ruairi, is currently starring the BBC’s Then Barbara Met Alan, a 90 min tv drama based on the true story of a couple of disabled activists. It’s on iPlayer now, my source.says.
Together with his RSC season, it explains why Ruairi had to leave Ambridge. Will he be another Debbie?
With all that is happening in Ambridge at the moment, why does Russ need to reappear? He, well to me, is the most boring character in TA. Perhaps it is for Lily to finally see sense + kick him out of, both Lower Loxley and her life. She needs to do a Pheobe, in that she needs to look at her life and so think about what she really wants, both short + long term.
Yes Lily is far stronger, than how she was portrayed. I do though like Freddie, but when will he morph into his fathers son? By that I mean, to finally find his strong Pargetter back-bone, and realise that the Lower Loxely "pile" is his inheritance. As such it will become his responsibilty to continue it as, how to how his father Nigel, would approve. I can though see, in about 5/6 years time, the Rightmove site - Luxury Apartments in the Lower Loxley Stately Home, to be built soon. Apply for information.
I didn't clarify, as to why an alternative about LL was also shown. It is simply a potential future possibility..but I hope just a whimsical and early thought, for now.
*** FROM PREVIOUS BLOG ***
ReplyDeleteMiriam - March 5, 2022 at 4:45 PM
Maryellen. My answer to your question as to whom I would sacrifice for Joy, is easy:-
Justin for a start, closely followed by Amy, and then perhaps even Mia.
Also Phoebe is leaving soon.
However - no regulars need to be sacrificed.
I am sure a quick Joy interlude could be done - be it in the shop with Linda or Susan with a bit of gossip, or with Fallon in the Tea Room.
Then perhaps a quick chat with Lee, whilst in their neighbouring back gardens.
It doesn't need to be lengthy as such, just an appearance...and I would love to hear how Stan is doing 😺😸...or even a chat with Tony about their love of their cars. If I remember rightly, they bonded over MG Midgets which they both own + love.
Or was that my imagination 👩🔧🧑🔧🚗
Anneveggie - March 5, 2022 at 7:30 PM
Just tried to post but it disappeared.
To repeat briefly: Justin or Pip would not be missed by me. Amy needs to move somewhere else for a while.
maryellen - March 5, 2022 at 8:48 PM
I could manage without useless Lee, also Jazzer, Jim and Kirsty in that order. I think Alice needs to get away for a time, while Chris + Martha and Amy sort out their future.
Am I alone in finding the upward inflection at the end of nearly every sentence uttered by Amy really irritating? She is one character I would not miss! I am finding the Chris, Amy and Alice triangle very tedious!
DeleteWholeheartedly agree Ev
DeleteAs usual I am 100% with you Ev.
DeleteCount me in as well!
DeleteOh, and you can add Fallon to the list too.
DeleteAs I say every Sunday, for which I am getting far too repetative, I picked up on many subtle nuances in the TA omnibus.
ReplyDeleteThe main ones both included Fallon in differing ways.
This is to do with the Harrison and his soon to be, baptism.
However the one that struck most, was her saying that she would not be going to Alices "Birthday Bash" for Martha, as she couldn't look Alice in the eye.
Fallon is so betwixt + between as to Alice + Chris, plus Martha, with all that might now happen. They all could lose a good + supportive friend in Fallon.
Harrison is a firm friend to Chris. I expect there will repurcussions, when Chris tells all to Harrison, who also has to try to keep it quiet.
On a different note, I missed the fact that Rex had actually bought his narrow boat. I assumed he was renting it...but how long can he afford the loan payments and mooring fees??
...and where is he now parking his "taxi"? I doubt it is on the river bank but it has to be close by. I wonder if this could create another problem, along with objections, from other Ambridge residents.
DeleteI really thought Fallon was going to tell Alice but I'm pleased she managed not to do it.
ReplyDeleteI still wish Fallon would abandon the high ground and grow up. Petulant teenager at her age is ludicrous and just adds to the tediousness of this story.
ReplyDeleteI wonder how long Tracy and Jazzer’s naughty secret assignations at Grey Gables will last before they are found out,as inevitably, they will be.!
ReplyDeleteI think these pathetic story lines are aimed at drawing in a younger demographic. If they are trying to attract 12 year olds, they will lose me.
ReplyDeleteEven I agree that the Jazzer + Tracy interludes at GG. is just silly.
ReplyDeleteFor a start - housekeeping would certainly know that an unoccupied room had been used. GG. must have some sort of CCTV for security purposes.
BTW GG means Grey Gables NOT our wonderful Gary G.
However to me, the SW's are doing what they do best. This is to put in two far less meaningful stories, as the SWs slowly build up to a Big One.
No guesses as to what this will be, over the next month or so.
It's like a volcano - will it erupt or not.
I wonder how Jazzer and Tracy will cope, when they both lose their jobs at about the same time, as even Oliver cannot forgive Tracy this time.
DeleteWhy don't they build their love nest in the Cricket Pavillion? As after all Tracy has the only key, and no-one wants to play the game. They would be secluded + safe there, and could make it warm + cosy.
I have heard some dreadful episodes of the Archers but this one takes the biscuit.
ReplyDeleteFor whom are the script writers writing this drivel ?
I have decided not to listen any more but will no doubt take sneaky looks to read the comments others have written to see when /if I might return to listening.
My patience with TA has just run out after that stupid episode.
ReplyDeleteIt's the Lull before The Storm. This is to my thoughts.
ReplyDeleteI will continue to listen + enjoy, on whatever level it is ...as it is a lovely form of escapism, well for me.
I might well end up as the "last one standing". So be it.
It was daft and the S/Ws are scraping the bottom of the barrel with this S/L but I'll hang in here and continue listening.
DeleteNot the script writers finest hour! I was impressed by Jazzer’s vocal range, strained times ahead for Jazzer and Tracey I fear.
ReplyDeleteThat was indeed an absolute load of rubbish. We’re the pathetic innuendos some attempt to get the writers onto comedy shows? If so a total failure. How on earth was an actor of the level of Michael Cochrane reduced to taking part?
ReplyDeleteWe have spoken on this blog about which characters might be replaced. We should be looking at which writers should be getting P45s.
Sorry about the rogue apostrophe!
ReplyDeleteI couldn't find out who wrote this rubbish. However, the editor is ultimately responsible, I wish he would get a grip.
ReplyDeleteDaniel Thurman SW this week. Do not know of him myself but the info is always listed
Deleteon “Sounds” (Thursdays episode page). Other days a one line synopsis of the nights episode is shown.
Correction - Monday has a synopsis for the coming weeks episodes.
ReplyDeleteDreadful stuff! I thought the old theatrical cliche of the comic Scotsman was dead, but not in Ambridge! Why does TA employ such third-rate writers and producers when other R4 drama series have such good ones? Though to be fair, it's the editor setting the tone.
ReplyDeleteDaniel Thurman joined TA in 2020 and has written two programmes since then, until now of course. The other episodes were 'When Johnny attempts to support a friend' and 'Roy has faces an uncomfortable request.'
ReplyDeleteI don't think his most recent offering is any better. In three TA blogs I have read, all of them say it is ridiculous, to say the least!
Perhaps this SW was given a 3rd chance, for whatever reason, by the editor.
ReplyDeleteIt might have been the last chance to show, that this is what the avid TA listeners, want to hear.
The Editor needs to read these comments to learn otherwise.
I agree with Maryellen the main fault lies with the editor. He manages to extract dross from many writers.
DeleteIf he has given Mr Thurman a third chance that only amplifies his total lack of judgement.
Third chance, third rate- third form? Pathetic!
May I very politely make another comment, in reply?
DeleteWhatever the SW wrote, surley the characters have to be acknowledged, for actually "acting" it out in the best way possible.
Oliver certainly was in character.
As I said previously how was such rubbish imposed on an actor of the calibre of Michael Cochrane?
DeleteI’m not blaming the cast who were doing the job they’re paid for, to the best of their ability, but the whole scenario was so awful. It would have been impossible to redeem it.
DeleteSusan for once, has actually talked sense. She is right, in suggesting that perhaps Neil should think about retiring.
ReplyDeleteI am sure, as to working in so many places over so many years, with proper advice, he will have a good "consolidated" pension pot, which will not leave him short.
Mike's appearance at New Year, and his news, seems to have made the intended impact, after all.
Hannah is well capable to take over Berrow Farm as the sole Manager, and also stand up to Justin + the BL board, in her own way.
I still think that Stella + Hannah, will join forces in some way in the future. These ideas, I am keeping secret for now.
I had to chuckle at Oliver's sigh at the end after Tracy had referred to him as a pal. Earlier he had stressed to Jazzer that Tracy was his employee and not to be regarded as a "pal" in the work situation. I think his sigh was because he realised the irrepressible Tracy had no real notion of the distinction. A kind man, and hopefully Tracy will repay him with more sensible behaviour.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you Janice. Oliver is 'old school' with high standards. He is indeed a kind man and surely Tracy has learned a lesson. The less we hear about her private life with Jazzer the better.
DeleteI like their relationship together. I do agree, as to what is needed to listen to and what should be kept private.
DeleteOliver seemed correct, in giving Tracy a final warning as to her conduct. To have dismissed her, he would have left GG open to an unfair dismissal tribunal. The intent was there but it didn't go any further.
ReplyDeleteTracy (and Jazzer) were lucky in that.
I would have thought that the annexe, which Jim had built on - to house both Jazzer + Webster and now Tracy, is surely a distance from Alistairs bedroom?
DeleteI wonder how Webster is doing 🕷🕸 or is she now preying on the so many, incarcerated in the Ambridge Cupboard.
I am a couple of days behind this week so can only surmise what has been going on!
DeleteBut it sounds to me, reading the above, that personal relationships are becoming a bit too personal!
I shall catch up tonight.
Kate is Martha's Aunty and Peggy is her great grandma.
ReplyDeleteSo why weren't they at either of Martha's birthday parties - along with Kirsty + Rex.
The re-wilding interviews could have been held on another day.
Poor writing as to the date/timescale, well in my opinion.
Just how can Kirsty make a living from the rewilding job. How can it pay a salary. I don’t understand it at all.
ReplyDeleteMe too. I suppose the salaries for the one (Phoebe/Kirsty) and a half (Rex) staff are coming out of Peggy’s endowment fund which won’t last for ever, as someone here said earlier. That’s why the Project needs to be financially viable (I guess the scriptwriters were using the more loaded word ‘commercially’, to intensify the clash between Kate’s business sense and Kirsty’s fluffy pink idealism).
DeleteThe interview seemed very non-real. Why didn’t Rex ask Kirsty why she gave up her previous job in conservation (she couldn’t hack it), why weren’t terms and conditions mentioned, and why didn’t there seem to be any other applicants following Rex’s advert for the job - has word got round that the Ambridge Project is iffy?
But Peggy’s money was used to buy land. Can’t see there being any left for wages.
DeleteThat’s true. I can’t see how the Project including campsite runs with only one and a half employees either. The Abridge Fairy must be running the pig business and taxi service while Rex is laying hedges (I’d have thought hedges were the opposite of ‘wild’ but I guess some compromises are needed!)
DeleteMany of our bird and mammal species are being lost because of the removal of the habitat which hedges provide. I am pretty sure that many rewinding projects support the re establishment of hedges. Layering is an important technique.
DeleteI was relieved to hear Kate decide to drop her application. She was so full of herself previously she was unbearable to listen to. Kirsty behaved with restraint against Kate's onslaught in my opinion.
ReplyDeleteI cannot imagine how the rewilding makes money but can only hope that it does well.
Rex still has his taxi driving and his pigs at LL so it can't give that much of an income as he still needs two other jobs.
DeleteKirsty could stay on at GG on a part-time basis so to then be able to pay her way at Roy's and enjoy a few good night's out.
Kirsty has the rent from the Beechwood House to cover the rent she pays Roy, which probably leaves her in pocket.
DeleteI think Kate has undergone of of those occasional changes of character that sometimes happen in The Archers
ReplyDeleteProbably engineered just to allow Kirsty to stay in the village and not decamp to Bulgaria, which turned out to be a no-go under the present circumstances.
There needs to be some joined-up thinking and cooperation between various members of the script writers team and more logical direction from the Editor. Stories are becoming chaotic and unbelievable and I am beginning to loose patience with both the Alice lot and the rewilding gang.
And better direction definitely needs to start before we return to six episodes a week
I’m now thinking that Kate knew she was not the one you would be chosen so jumped before she was pushed and that way came out the interview smelling of roses in the other eyes for being so generous of spirit🤣
DeleteI think the scriptwriters were avoiding a difficult showdown between Peggy who as a business woman herself appreciated Kate’s ideas for keeping the project running successfully, and Rex who at Alice’s suggestion had already promised the job to Kirsty. Kate is no fool, possibly twigged what would happen and was sparing her grandmother the aggro. If so, she deserved the pat on the back.
DeleteI am so pleased for Kirsty. I predict, that she will become the "senior" person of the re-wilding scheme, which is after all, her dream just like Peggy's.
ReplyDeleteI hate to even suggest this but:-
could this be approaching the time - Peggy in other words, the lovely June Spencer, takes her leave from Ambridge.
I hope not. At 102yrs of age she could go on for a while yet and still give her input.
...so Kirsty takes full control in the future?
DeleteI have a pair of blackbirds and a pair of robins, roosting in my beech hedge.
DeleteIt is not quite re-wilding as such, but I hope that nests will soon be built and survive.
Miriam - this might be just the time to put some of the fur from grooming your cat in the hedge.
DeleteWell thank God phoebe’s gone. Whining lass.
ReplyDeleteThought Susan was going to crack and reveal all to Tracy!
Yes, remarkably restrained. I'm beginning to fear she might be ill.
DeleteWasn’t that the scriptwriters,leading us up the garden path?
DeleteSorry, have I missed something? When did Phoebe decide to emigrate to Australia? Or perhaps it's Darkest Peru. It's certainly a very, very long way away from Ambridge and it will surely require a passport and a major expedition to go and visit her. Roy and Kate may have to save up for years and years to afford the trip. Not to mention the foreign language and strange food. There may even be dragons.
ReplyDeleteI am now feeling miffed - Eldest Small Person Who Has Left the Shoe didn't give me a goldfish when they moved up to deepest, darkest Manchester.Should I let them know they were remiss? I'm sure if I write them a letter the mail coach will be able to get it to them within the next month or so. ('Though the fish might not enjoy the return journey.)
ReplyDeletePhoebe is one of those very rare characters who’ve left the enclave and returned - but will it happen again? Has she left us forever, or will she do a Debbie - returning briefly at long intervals? The RW Project will miss her drive. Kirsty’s one of Nature”s lieutenants, not captains.
ReplyDeleteThere have been a few who left and returned, I can think of Kate and Adam, Kenton had prolonged absences Tom and Kirsty merely took long holidays,
ReplyDeleteI agree the Kirsty and Rex don’t have the same level of drive or self belief that Phoebe has, although the Ambridge on the couch podcast nicknamed Rex Captain Pugwash.
Is Tom going to be his Cabin Boy? 😂
DeleteOWIAS - Ha ha. The leaving scene was rather over the top wasn't it. It was as if Phoebe was going to Outer Mongolia not Scotland.
ReplyDeletePhoebe might bump into Charlie Thomas who was also sent to the ‘wilds’ of beautiful Perthshire by the SWs many moons ago.
ReplyDeleteThis is in reply to KPnuts earlier post, about returning Ambridge residents after an absence.
ReplyDeleteHow about Amy Franklin??
I meant Amy Franks obviously..
DeleteI believe that she left Ambridge in 2013, but has since returned.
and has made her prescence known, in many ways.
DeleteIn the rosy glow of Phoebe’s departure,Kate and Roy were congratulating each other on their successful parenting,forgetting that while growing up,a lot of her stability and encouragement came from the years that Haley was her loving step mother.
ReplyDeleteWhat a good point you've made Portia. Haley has been written out of Phoebe's life story.
Delete..but didn't Hayley leave circa 2014 or thereabouts. I cannot grasp what impact she has had on Pheoebes life since then.
DeleteWhat have I missed??
What surprised me about Phoebe leaving, was that she was driving herself in her own car "up North", to the Highlands of Scotland.
ReplyDeleteI had no idea she had a car of her own.
Portia,
ReplyDeleteHayley was always my favourite Ambridge resident.
I was really sorry when she left.
Kate had nothing to do with Phoebe's upbringing.
I have a feeling that Phoebe called Hayley "mum "but when Kate came on the scene ,that all changed.
I can't remember when Phoebe got her cut glass accent
I get them all mixed up.
They all sound the same.
Was she the one who went to Oxford or maybe Cambridge.
What on earth did she study?
Pheobe went to Oxford, to the delight of Jennifer.
DeleteI think she studied something like politics or similar, but I might be confusing this with something else.
Pheobe returned to Ambridge, and lived with Roy, until now.
At least Kate made an effort as her Mum, on her return, and they certainly got on well in their own ways.
One thing I had forgotten about Pheobe, was that she spent some time with Kate, + her half siblings (Nolly + ?) plus Kate's partner, in S.Africa, for a while.
DeleteI am not sure how old she was, so as to when. Was it after Hayley had left or before - no idea.
Yes, it was Oxford and PPE.
DeleteAs for her accent, it always puzzled me why she never picked up Roy or Hayley’s accent seeing how much of her young life was spent with them. And going to Oxford was far too late to influence it. I can only assume it was the Aldridge influence that made her sound so différent.
DeleteCan anyone remember which school she went to? Was it Borchester Green or did J & B pay for a private school?
From the BBC’s TA Characters page (full story of Phoebe’s early years by Keri Davies) Kate took care of Phoebe for the first 18 months after Phoebe’s birth. Roy was an occasional babysitter. Phoebe went to South Africa to reconnect with her mother and half siblings with Roy and Hayley’s reluctant blessing.
ReplyDeleteI think ‘trivial’ could be added to Archerphile’s description of TA’s current storylines as chaotic and unbelievable, which I thought was very apt. When I checked out Keri’s article above, I read the blog posts below it which were mostly from bloggers I didn’t remember (GG and Nemo - who I sadly miss - were the only names I recognised).
ReplyDeleteTheir posts dated from Sean O’Connor’s editorship and the beginnings of the Rob/Helen saga, and it struck me how ‘meaty’ they were, reflecting the meatiness of TA then. There was light relief but the stories were believable (like the shepherd hut saga), not the ridiculous and outdated music hall stuff we get now, often involving Jazzer. That was when TA was a compelling, nightly listen, and it could be so again with an editor and writers of the right calibre. Nowadays it’s becoming a rather dreary habit!
Toby Fairbrother quoted on BBC News website!
ReplyDeleteIn an item on today’s BBC website about a Welsh couple who make vodka from sheep’s milk, the idea is traced back to The Archers, specifically Toby’s approach to Helen Archer about buying her discarded whey to make milk-based alcohol. The Welsh vodka producer said he hadn’t heard it on The Archers, but believed he was the first in the world to actually do it.
I can’t remember on what grounds Helen turned Toby down, but she clearly missed a trick!
Sorry that should be first in the UK, the farmer said he got the idea from someone in NZ who was possibly first the world, Shows Toby (and TA’s agricultural advisor) were on the ball.
DeleteWell remembered Maryellen.
DeleteI also saw the article about the production of Vodka from sheep milk/whey, or whatever.
I had totally forgotten that Toby had the same idea as to his gin, which Helen totally dismissed.
If only....with T❤b❤y.
What a difference that might have made. But that is Ambridge history sadly. 🙅♀️
I picked up on something in the Sunday morning TA programme, which I hadn't spotted in the week.
ReplyDeleteAlice showed Chris photos of Party No.1, including one of Jennifer + Brian "dancing" with Martha.
When Alice rang Chris to see how she was doing at Party No.2, Chris said how much she was enjoying the bubbles in the garden.
Does that mean Martha is now starting to toddle about? She was after all, pulling herself up onto the furniture, a short while ago.
Chris so should have swallowed his pride, as to Brian's cottage offer.
I fully understand his refusal as it came from The Aldridges. However I still wonder if the flat with the steep stairs up to it (which has been mentioned more than once), is an ideal place for Martha, as she gets more mobile.
I think that this decision to stay in the flat, may have consequences of some sort, in the future.
Only time, plus the SW's, will tell.
Alice also talked about "our daughter" which of course, Martha is.
DeleteI only mention this, as Alice only now seems able to accept + acknowledge, what this actually means.
This is that they are both her loving + caring, parents.
I wait in anticipation as to when Fallon, despite what she said to Amy when she left Ambridge yet again, tells Alice what she knows.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if this will make a difference in the divorce/custody/mediation talks?
I so hope what Jim talked to Kirsty about, will make her rethink her situation with both Chris + Martha.
ReplyDeleteI so want a happy, family ending 😀
Sorry Miriam but Kirsty will not rethink as Jim was talking to Alice.
DeleteIs it any wonder that I mixed up Kirsty + Alice, with the anxst of saving a goldfish!
DeleteAn episode of two halves, one a load of pathetic nonsense the other with Alice and (the lovely) Jim it’s saving grace.
ReplyDeleteRoy should get a proper aquarium or perhaps make a pond. The RSPCA says goldfish bowls aren’t suitable and don’t have animal welfare in mind. I’m very surprised that Kirsty hasn’t told him this, being Ambridge’s animal welfare supporter. Remember the Berrow pigs?
ReplyDeleteJim was lovely in his conversation with Alice. He had wise words for her and delivered them in such a kind way.
ReplyDeleteI agree Maryellen that Kirsty needs to wake up about the goldfish bowl!
I wonder what the light-hearted interlude will be tonight.
ReplyDeleteThese are such fill-in parts, in preparation of two big and upcoming SL's.
These revolve around Berrow Farm and Alice/Chris in mediation, going forwards to the divorce proceedings.
My big question is - will Fallon tell all?
I’m not so sure we are in for a light hearted week Miriam - but we shall see 🤔
DeleteWe’ve got kamikaze Kate the goldfish
DeleteAlice has done well in fighting her addiction and has shown that she can take care of Martha. As her mother she is right to want to take on the role of primary carer. She has family support and Chris is nearby to share decisions about Martha’s future. Of course if she lapses again it will be a different matter and she must know this. A very important incentive not to go there again. Chris seems to want to take Martha out of her hands apart from occasional access when he is at work and must cut a little more slack I think. She has shown that she is a caring mother.
ReplyDeleteAlice has moved very quickly from telling Chris that every day is a battle and she needs to focus on herself, to doing fine and wanting to be Martha’s primary caregiver. I am not convinced she is ready yet, even with the support from her parents.
ReplyDeleteAlso is she planning on returning to some form of work or expecting Chris to pay support? which will lead to more financial debate which Brian was so keen to avoid…..
All in all things are set to get messy, and Alice has yet to find out about Amy!
Totally agree re Alice/Chris was well done.
DeleteThe goldfish twaddle disproved my contention that scripts could not get any worse!
Agree KP, but Alice did show that her confidence is growing and I think that in itself is good.
DeleteHowever Chris showed again, his determination to stay ( having become) Martha’s primary carer and however gentle he may be we are getting glimpses of a ruthless side to his character.
This worries me !
Isn’t the classic test of who a young child thinks of as its primary carer ‘who does it instinctively turn to when it cries?’ Assuming both careers are present. If Martha could be given a choice, I reckon it would be Chris. (They don’t have to live in the flat forever!)
ReplyDeleteIn my experience if crying children have a choice they'll go to where they think they'll get the most sympathy. Given that Chris seems to be the stricter parent Martha might go to Alice.
DeleteYes, Alice's over-compensatory approach plus her general flakiness make her a worrying prospect.
DeleteWas last night’s fish drama supposed to be an attempt at humour?
ReplyDeleteIf so, it totally failed in this house, it was just excruciating listening to a pathetic Roy catastrophising over a goldfish
Oh, and by the way, it couldn’t be put in a garden pond, the cold would kill it stone dead!
The RSPCA discourages keeping fish in outdoor ponds for various reasons (cold wasn’t mentioned), so it would have to be an internal feature. I thought that episode was weird. I see Keri Davies is back soon.
DeleteYes indeed! We are back to, "as dim as a nun's nightlight." Senseless padding with no purpose.
DeleteWhen you go to a proper fish shop like Maidenhead Aquatics, you can select from various breeds of fish (comets, shebunkins, koi carp, goldfish etc ) that are bred for outdoor pond conditions. You are advised to lower them in their bag very slowly into the pond so that the water temperature has time to equilibrate and not shock the fish.
DeleteIndoor fish, intended to be kept in an aquarium (or, inadvisedly, a small bowl) are a completely different “kettle of fish” and should never be put in a garden pond.
Here endeth the fish lesson!
😂 🐡 🐠 🐟 😂
Still wondering why Kirsty, normally a champion of animal welfare, didn’t rise to the occasion!
DeleteRoy has usually been one of my favourite characters,except when he had the affair with Elizabeth Pargetter , resulting in the break up of his marriage to Haley.Last night however he was made to behave like a hysterical idiot,driving Jacob mad over the care of the goldfish.I sincerely hope that is the final bit of padding relating to fishy Kate and Roy from the SWs.
ReplyDeleteAll I want to add, is that the first mediation event, did not go as well as I expected it would.
ReplyDeleteThis is just the start of a very long Ambridge story, which will have many twists + turns.
One of my many thoughts, is that Chris + Alice will become feisty + antagonistic, just as they seemed to becoming more friendly again.
I so hope that, before it gets to the Family Court, a solution will resolve itself somehow.
This I doubt though.
Susan will have her say to Chris to try and influence him.
This relates to the Aldridges + monies, which always has seemed a priority to her and that she is a worthy grandma, for Martha.
I so agree with Portia, in that both:-
ReplyDeletea) the Fishy Tale, or should that be tail
b) the Bedroom debacle at GG with Jazzer + Tracy
are just as described.
This is pure padding + fill in scenarios, until the more serious stuff appears.
These are Berrow Farm, along with Chris/Amy/Martha.
These will affect so many lives + futures, in very many ways, be they good or more probably, bad.
I hope the fingers of Keri Davis, have been very busy writing some wonderful Archers episodes.
DeleteThis is a very debatable thought ..
ReplyDeleteShould the 7.00pm listen still be called - The Archers - or should it be re-named.
Thoughts are:-
1) Life in Ambridge,
2) Ambridge Village,
3) Ambridge.
I say this, as The Archers are no longer the main characters be they be farmers or have other enterprises. Farming is now far less mentioned.
These days it is all about village life + it's inhabitants, their lives, families and antics.
4) Life in a Goldfish Bowl
DeleteAfter hearing Peggy with Tony tonight, she seemed to be making amends with him and acknowledging his work at Bridge Farm.
ReplyDeleteThis to me though, is a warning flag, that Peggy might disappear soon.
Hopefully, it will only be just as far as The Laurels. She can bond again with Christine, who will be a very suitable companion once again.
I’m pretty sure Chris said recently that even Peggy popped round to see Martha when she was with him and his family on her birthday so plenty of Ambridge type of life left in her yet it seems 🤗.
DeleteI understand that Chris feels that Alice cannot yet be fully trusted to be a safe caring mother to Martha. It's too early in her life without alcohol and, as someone said, it's only five minutes ago that she was saying it's a huge struggle every day etc.
ReplyDeleteIt's not going to be pleasant to hear the divorce details and rows.
I'd like more light-hearted fare specially with what's going on the the world now.
Some variety would be nice instead of one major story of misery and confrontation interspersed with sheer stupidity. I'm not listening at the moment just keeping in touch with the synopsis and this blog until something more interesting and less depressing comes along 🤞
ReplyDeleteIt was interesting last night to hear the two dads discussing the news concerning the latest Alice/Chris mediation session in a very level headed way and surprising to hear for once that Brian was not in favour of Alice taking on the responsibility of prime carer of Martha over Chris at present anyway. However if,news seeps out about Chris and Amy’s short liaison, and becomes common knowledge, will he change his mind and back his daughter?
ReplyDeleteI too enjoyed the conversation between Peggy and Tony and feel pleased that the Rewilding is in safe hands.
Serial adulterer Brian Isn’t in a position to judge Chris on his one night of passion. (I wonder too how faithful Alice has been when drunk - remembering the incident with Harrison.) Brian is mainly concerned with the financial implications, as his conversation with Alice showed.
DeleteAnd talking of Alice’s faithfulness, wasn’t there some question of her having a liaison with a colleague at that engineering firm she worked for.? Can’t remember exact details but think it was at the beginning of her alcohol addiction when she was behaving very erratically.
DeleteLilian’s nudge-nudge, wink-wink cackle reached new heights, or should that be new lows, last night.
DeleteI am finding her unbearable to listen to.
I only seem to be able to post as a reply to someone else’s post, hence the disconnection between my last comment and Portia’s post. If I try to start a new comment I just keep getting the dreaded “Whoops” page. This happen on both Safari and Chrome, it’s very frustrating!
DeleteHello AP,
DeleteTotally agree with all 3 of your posts.
I remember now how inebriated Alice brought a fellow drinker back to Willow Cottage one night for you can guess what. He made a embarrassed exit when her parents unexpectedly appeared. I wonder if Chris knows about that.
Delete....but that was then!
DeleteSince then, Alice has given birth to Martha, been in re-hab. has been bonding with Martha, and trying to sort things out with Chris, in the most friendly way possible.
All will change, of that I am sure, and this situation will become, quite heated in time.
I just wish, that this is to be decided just between, Alice and Chris.
The grandparents - Neil, Susan, Brian, Jennifer should not have a input, which would be so biased, and so upset what might or could, happen.
Alice is doing well, as she is still not drinking any alcohol. I admire her for staying firm as to her convictions. She needs to be given some accolade, for what she has achieved with this, and her bonding with Martha.
DeleteSusan is annoying me, pontificating so much to Alice.
ReplyDeleteThere are many good reasons for her diatrube at her, but these were a while ago, pre-rehab Alice.
Susan needs to forget the past, and to now concentrate more on her grand-daughter, in that her beloved son Chris, might not be Martha's ideal or best, carer.
It will go to court, or will it?
Wasn't Chris pushing to be the final arbiter in al decisions about Martha's future? It seems to me that that is what pushed Alice into her current stance. If he had been more willing to share decisions with Alice, I sense that she would have been more willing to share the parenting.
ReplyDeleteSadly, Miriam, our hopes of a reconcilationare looking less and less likely to be fulfilled.
Chris was pushing for final say on decisions about Martha because he does not trust Alice and, despite her sobriety at the moment, who can blame him?
ReplyDeleteI agree with you, Annieveggie - the defining (and symbolic) moment before the christening when Alice carelessly dropped Martha and Chris caught her must be seared into his soul. No amount of rehab and subsequent sobriety will remove the risk, and the sensible thing is to minimise it.
DeleteI sympathise with Susan and Neil too. Like Chris they have invested an enormous amount of practical care and love in Martha’s upbringing, and the possibility of her future being jeopardised in this way must be very hard, as well as having to support Chris in his grief at the potential loss of his closest companion’.
So, what’s next on Alice’s ‘I want’ list?
I am loving the comments about the Alice/Chris/Martha scenario. It shows how all of us, think so very differently, and my thoughts have already been hinted at.
ReplyDeleteThe care of Martha, is for me of the greatest importance, by one of her parents and totally reliant on others.
This should read:
Delete....and not totally reliant of others.
A word left out, makes a very big difference, as to meaning.
I wonder if Alice volunteering for work in the shop, was simply due that, she could then see Martha coming + going from the flat, and so could see far more of her daughter.
ReplyDeleteI still think that the steep stairs to the flat, might have a significance.
As I seem to be here on my own, I am repling to Maryellen's post...just for fun 🤣
ReplyDeleteThis relates to Alice's "I Want" list with my thoughts + ideas. This is posted as if Alice is now speaking.
1) I (Alice) don't really want to divorce Chris, as I still love him. I suggested this to him, and told him to tell all of my past, so to sort things out. How I now regret this.
2) I so want Martha to live with me. At last, I finally realise that I am her mother and I so want her constantly in my life.
3) I know that I can finally care for Martha in the best way possible, in my home, which is far more suitable for a toddler, than the flat above the shop.
4) How I wish both Chris's and my parents, would just let us sort things out between us, in the best way possible.
5) Yes. I was so very often totally drunk even at work, and a true alcoholic, with bottles hidden in so many secret places.
However I have been in re-hab. and have a wonderful person to talk to if temptation happens,and I am proud of myself in that I haven't had a drink for over 6 months.
6) I expect that things will become very anxious and heated in the next few months. I just hope that I don't succumb to the bottle again, and ruin things yet again, as to my daughter + marriage..
I must have willpower and stay strong!
Written by Alice Carter/Miriam.
Just my thoughts in a different way 🤣😉😱❌👎
7) I Alice, am so very much missing my great friend Amy, who is so helpful + supportive.
DeleteShe is a wonderful person, who I can really rely on, talk to and tell her, how I am feeling.
How I miss her..
And so it goes on.
This comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteMiriam - I think you have captured Alice’s self-centredness brilliantly!
Delete..which can also be read in a different way.
DeleteIt was fun doing this though 🤣
It was meant to be read as a compliment to your scripting skills!
DeleteFrom its picture, the village shop looks like the ground floor conversion of a relatively modern house, so I assume the stairs to the first floor flat are the house’s internal staircase and unlikely to be steeper than the staircases that many toddlers grow up with. They didn’t seem to be worrying Natasha and Tom for themselves or future children and Hazel was exaggerating for her own ends.
ReplyDeleteI don’t know how old The Nest is but in my experience cottages, especially older ones, tend to have steeper staircases than houses. In any case, Chris can move out if he feels it’s a problem.
Bouncing a pushchair up and down stairs can be a problem. Martha can easily be protected from falling by fitting a stair gate though.
ReplyDeleteThere was an earlier suggestion from bloggers that the buggy could be parked downstairs. How old was Henry when Helen lived there? She went back to Bridge Farm for moral support rather than dissatisfaction with the flat (as I remember - could have got the timing wrong!)
DeleteYes, the best solution would be to keep it downstairs if there is a space for it. I think Alice is over reacting by going for full custody and should just have insisted she had input over Martha’s day to day care. Equally Chris by making it clear he expected to have full control has pushed Alice in this direction. Before it escalates further they need to get together and reach a compromise that as with any couple the ideal is to make decisions about their children together.
DeleteThe obvious, and fairest decision would be 50:50 shared parenting, and I would hope that the mediator and lawyers would suggest this. But it’s the script writers that are in control so maximum conflict is pretty much guaranteed.
ReplyDeleteYou are so right, in that the SW's will certainly stir the situation into an awful debacle.
DeleteIt will become vocal + nasty, when it could have been solved, in a quieter/simpler/friendly way.
It will end in tears from some-one, but whom?
This could be from so many:-
Alice, Susan, Amy, Jennifer, and not forgetting Chris.
Then there is Fallon who knows so much.
All I hope is that the SW's do this S/L justice, as to the world and life today.
There surely could be a mutual compromise, to sort ALL or is that too much Wishful Thinking?8
This latest "tangled web" situation, just reminds me of both, the Helen/Rob and the Kirsty/Phil, SL's.
ReplyDeleteThis is to get the most out of us listeners, to agree or not!
It's getting so intriguing and debatable, as to what will actually be revealed + resolved.
It will be a long listen.
For once after the TA Omnibus, I have no further comments to add.
ReplyDeleteThis must be a 1st.
Except (couldn't resist) - Peggy is still a "Wiley Old Bird" and still manipulative. She is just more subtle now.
I wonder when she will join Christine in The Laurels?
DeleteOh dear Susan! and good on ya Tracey.
ReplyDeleteNot for the first time I’ve lost the plot - how did the Berrow news get out when it wasn’t Hannah, Neil, Susan, Justin, Brian or Lilian who blabbed?
ReplyDeleteI thought Tracey’s rudeness to Justin was unwarranted and unpleasant. He wa remarkably mild and tolerant in return.. Why shouldn’t Berrow be closed if it’s unprofitable? It’s not a public service. The village was anti it. Its employees will get redundancy
We didn’t get all the ranting when Jazzer lost his job after Adam similarly closed down his fish operation. If Jazzer hadn’t thrown up his job with Tom’s pigs in a fit of pique, he’d be okay now. My heart doesn’t bleed for him!
PS. I understand Lanjan’s feelings about soundalikes - I’ve several times confused Justin and Oliver, and last night was one of them. No problem with anyone else, though.
DeleteI presumed it was down to Susan being unfriendly to Justin in the shop. He put two and two together and realised she must have heard about the closure. But that doesn't explain how Tony knew, does it?
DeleteLilian? Or another board member? But whether to stir up opposition or to drop Brian in it?
The plot thickens. (Like the pigs.)
Yes, that was another example of people putting two and two together and making five! What Susan was upset about was Alice's behaviour; she has said nothing about Berrow's possible closure to anyone except Neil in response to him telling her the news. No wonder she was indignant when he then asked her if she had told anyone..
DeleteI thought it was Lilian - who after the "chat" with Susan, assumed it was common knowledge.
ReplyDeleteLilian can never keep a secret for long, as wasn't she partly responsible for spilling the beans on Alice in some way, after a glass of red wine each in the Dower House garden??
As to Tony being the Re-Wilding farming expert, I think that Adam is a far better canditate. This is for many reasons, too numerous to mention just now.
As a taster to my thoughts..
DeleteAdam did a lot of work on herbal lays with Pip.
He thinks outside the box, as to the Aquaponics which sadly failed.
He has knowledge of types of sheep + deer, so why not introduce suitable rare breeds of these, onto the re-wilding land.
Adam would be far more suitable.
This is just an initial reveal of my thoughts.
Tony has more time on his hands as he is retired for the most part and has years of farming experience behind him. This includes taking care of the countryside. I think he is a good choice as a consultant to the project.
DeleteAnd now it all starts!
ReplyDeleteThere will now hopefully, some interesting S/L's to follow, what with tempers, scheming, sculldugery, not forgetting those that think they know best, be it family or business concerns, of which there are many appearing.
As to friendships, I wonder how many will actually survive such as Alice + Amy, not forgetting Fallon.
...also Harrison and Chris.
DeleteWhat a difficult position Amy put her Dad and Usha in!! At least she's confessed to Alice now but with friends like that who needs enemies.
ReplyDeleteAlice wants to have her cake and eat it.
ReplyDeleteAmy and Chris at least like each other, Alice was propositioning strangers in bars.
There will probably be even more fireworks from Alice if/when she learns that Fallon also knew about Amy and Chris.Agreed,that situation was badly timed but Alice had already spurned Chris’s attempts at being affectionate towards her and reaffirmed her desire for a divorce.Hopefully she might think on this when she calms down.Much as I dislike the character, I hope that Amy’s revelation won’t trigger an alcohol relapse.
ReplyDeleteAlice - I don’t won’t him, but you can’t have him. Scream, scream. Lost patience with the woman.
ReplyDeleteNot that I think much of Any either.
Or Fallon.
100% agree AP. Alice has always wanted both her bun and her halfpenny. She seems to think that she should be safeguarded in spite of the consequences she visits on others.
DeletePerhaps a severe shock awakening might bring her into the real world.
A messy situation all round, but in my experience all too frequent within friendship groups.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, little doubt that friendships will be severed.
I think the problem has its roots in Chris's lack of understanding of alcoholism. I don't think he ever attended any of the counselling sessions with Alice. He thought everything could just go back to normal asap. Alice knew she needed far more time to recover and that it would be a battle. I don't think she wanted a divorce, just the space and time apart to heal. I think she loves Chris still and did not really want a divorce. It was him who rushed the divorce. Now the idiot has by his behaviour destroyed the friendship between Amy and Alice. Any other woman would not have mattered so much, but now Alice is going to feel utterly betrayed and she will fight even harder for custody because she will not want Amy anywhere near her child. Years ago a relation of a friend of mine killed himself, not just because his wife had been unfaithful but because it transpired the affair was with his supposedly best friend, which left him without the support of his friend as well as without his wife. The repercussions cascade down through the family. The s/ws will no doubt extract every bit of drama from this. Hang on Alice, don't hit the bottle, better to channel it into anger instead.
ReplyDeletePoor little Martha in the middle of all this angst, and I don't think Amy will ever find much joy with Chris now.
DeleteI may not be entirely right about Chris not attending any of the sessions. Did he attend one when Alice was in rehab ? If he did then he didn't gain much understanding from it.
DeleteIt's thinking about Martha that has stopped me listening for the time being, just as the effect on Henry stopped me listening to the Helen and Rob story.
DeleteYes I stopped listening to the Helen and Rob story when it got too fraught, and don't really like all the trauma now. Children even when very young pick up on things and can be damaged.
DeleteJanice, is that your d-i-l?
ReplyDeleteHave you got a new family member?
Yes that is Mabel with baby Max, born at 35 weeks. The poor little scrap was in a special cot under UV light to begin with, with a cannula in his arm and regular heel pricks to check blood BUT he has come home now under the care of the community midwife, and is a joy. To me it is incredible how we can produce new life. I am a bit busier at present as I am doing what my mum in law did for us and am cooking dinners for the tired parents. Veggie casserole for son today and an attempt at cooking a whole stuffed Tilapia fish in Philippino style, sort of!
DeleteI do agree with Janice regarding Chris lacking in very little understanding of alcoholism. I’ve felt this since the beginnings of this SL, however I would not be happy labelling him as an idiot.
DeleteI do think he is a thinking man, and not insensitive, but he is confused by the situation he and Alice have created and is reacting defensively.
You are right Mrs P. I was just feeling exasperated with him. Must remember it's just a story and not real!
DeleteI am very sorry but I am not sure Alice entirely understands alcoholism. Her continual cries that I should have special treatment because I’m an alcoholic and if you don’t comply I shall be driven back to the bottle wears a little thin. Yes Alice you do have the illness but a little consideration for those close who are very affected by it would not come amiss.
ReplyDeleteI believe that Alice does fully understand her alcohol problem, but she still finds it difficult to not imbibe. Her driving force is Martha and how she now wants her living with her, in some way.
ReplyDeleteThis could be sorted - if Alice + Chris really talk about their daughter and what is best for her, as to their homes + lives.
I am with others in that - did Chris actually attend any meetings with his wife Alice, so to understand her problem, both then and how it could affect her. I can't remember any mention of this, but then the SW's could be keeping this a secret, for now.
As I have said before - I feel for Martha, who seems to be a pawn in this situation.
She is though, always with her Mum or Dad, or either of the sets of grandparents. She is being so well cared for + loved with her family members, but these have differing ideas of her future life.
At least as Martha is still so young, she will not remember whatever happens now, and how her future life was decided.
DeleteAll the youngsters in Ambridge have had some sort of problems.
ReplyDelete1)Lilly + Freddie, when Nigel died.
2)Mia, Jake + Poppy, after Nic passed away.
3)Henry + Jack - after the Rob situation
4) Rosie with her Mum Pip, and part-time dad, Toby
Now there is Martha, to follow in a similar pattern.
There is one Ambridge child, who has loving parents. This is Xander, the son of Adam + Ian. There is still a complication in his life, which is the surrogacy with Lexi.
How I wish for a new Ambridge babe born, with no history nor complications.
My thought is a simple one:-
Fallon + Harrison!
Oops! On reading back, I have made a massive mistake, when I referred to loving parents in Ambridge.
DeleteAll the youngsters are well loved, of that there is no doubt..even Emma + Ed with George, who are all silent characters for now.
or is it Will as his dad?
DeleteJanice, how lovely, glad all is well. Your Mabel is very lucky, I think we lived on baked beans for a few weeks!
ReplyDeleteJanice, so pleased that mum and baby are now back home. I'm sure that they appreciate your help.
ReplyDelete“Let battle commence” not only between Alice and Chris but the respective families too no doubt.
ReplyDeleteThe real victim will be little Martha of course 😧
Susan has yet to find out she has been hung by her own petard regarding the Berrow leak resulting a fall out with Tracy.
Poor Susan! Accused by Neil of telling about Berrow and then blamed by Tracy for not telling about Berrow! All she did was respect her vow of confidentiality to Neil (who didn’t respect his vow of confidentiality to Brian, though thanks to Susan’s loyalty it didn’t go any further). She’s an exception to many of Ambridge’s other residents at the moment, who seem to be getting steadily more unlikeable.
ReplyDeleteAlmost spot on Maryellen. I would substitute for rapidly for steadily in your last line.
DeleteSorry 1 “for”too many!!
DeleteThat was a lot of shouting last night!
ReplyDeleteI don’t think the solicitor will be that interested in Chris’s liaison with Amy, it doesn’t make him a bad person anymore than Alice’s alcoholism does her. I find Alice quite unpleasant sober or drunk, but I could say that about quite a few characters. Chris’s behaviour has left something to be desired, he has not responded well to the stress of the last 18 months but why hasn’t he sought help.
Exactly!
DeleteIt seems to me that Chris is a character who feels that he has the strength to plough through problems without help, only turning to his parents for practical needs. I don’t think it would occur to him that he might need help, even though he does seem to understand that he is confused by the behaviour of others.
ReplyDeleteI too find Alice an unlikeable character whether she is drunk or sober. Chris's behaviour has not been perfect regarding his understanding of alcoholism but who would behave perfectly in the given situation. Alice demands special treatment by everyone or else she will go back to the bottle and it will be their fault. What a burden to place on others.
ReplyDeleteMartha is loved by both parents and, in time, they will sort the custody situation out. I can only hope both Alice and Chris will be able to co-exist peaceably and think of Martha.
I am being different again, in that I am admiring Alice, as she is now but not before.
ReplyDeleteI noticed when Chris dashed over to her with Martha (down those steep flat stairs), the first thing Alice did was to take Martha upstairs + put her in a cot.
This to me does not sound like a mother, who cannot care for her daughter when she is required to do so.
I hate the idea of a court order, as to custody + visiting rights relating to Martha. This will also affect, Susan + Niel and Brian + Jennifer, as the grandparents.
I wonder what "The Aunties" think - namely Emma + Kate (not the fish).
I think Chris is fiercely independent, whereas Alice is dependent on her family/family business for her home, plus financial and practical support, also her friends for the moral and emotional support she previously got from Chris. He is also fiercely committed to Martha's welfare, is fully aware of what alcoholism entails long-term and is understandably and risk averse.
ReplyDeleteI don't think asking for the final say on decisions regarding Martha's future, eg. schooling, means he is aiming for the control of a Victorian-style paterfamilias. He made it clear at the mediation session that all discussions on her upbringing would be mutual. On the grounds that he has the cooler head, I'd support his final say if the discussions ended in disagreement.
It seems Jim's advice to Alice has seriously misfired. Feeling good about herself involves making others feel bad about themselves, as she shifts the blame and guilt onto them. Her anti-Chris tirade was chillingly similar to her anti-Ruairi tirade - except this time she wasn't actually drunk.
As to Chris seeking help, when has the poor bloke had the time? Think of all he's got on his plate!
Finally, I have to say I'm very disappointed in Amy, not because she slept with Chris but because of her quivering jelly behaviour afterwards, She no longer tops my list of candidates for Chris's post-Alice partner and Martha's step-mum.......
i agree in Spades!
DeleteAbsolutely spot-on Maryellen. You echo my opinion exactly but have expressed it far better more logically than I could.
DeleteI also agree with you Maryellen.
DeleteIt was very telling that Chris made light of his dalliance with Amy when he spoke to Alice saying that it just happened and implying it did not mean a long term relationship. Amy went over the top rushing round to Chris at 6 in the morning on the supposition that her revelation to Alice might lead to the bottle again. She has shown herself to be over emotional and indeed, Maryellen not a good bet as Chris’s future partner or Martha’s stepmum!
DeleteAs I thought, my ideas are still so very different, and so it should be.
ReplyDeleteI have sometimes been right, but more often wrong.
I will keep scribbling my own TA story ideas, as I interpret what is happening and I have some great ideas at the moment.
...I am still thinking about the steep stairs, which are to + from the flat.
DeleteThese have been mentioned by Hazel, Susan + others, but just might be a typical TA "red herring" 🙅♀️
Arthur Hughes, who plays Ruairi, is currently starring the BBC’s Then Barbara Met Alan, a 90 min tv drama based on the true story of a couple of disabled activists. It’s on iPlayer now, my source.says.
ReplyDeleteTogether with his RSC season, it explains why Ruairi had to leave Ambridge. Will he be another Debbie?
With all that is happening in Ambridge at the moment, why does Russ need to reappear?
ReplyDeleteHe, well to me, is the most boring character in TA. Perhaps it is for Lily to finally see sense + kick him out of, both Lower Loxley and her life.
She needs to do a Pheobe, in that she needs to look at her life and so think about what she really wants, both short + long term.
I agree and also, “why has she adopted the twee little girly accent?”
DeleteYes Lily is far stronger, than how she was portrayed.
DeleteI do though like Freddie, but when will he morph into his fathers son?
By that I mean, to finally find his strong Pargetter back-bone, and realise that the Lower Loxely "pile" is his inheritance.
As such it will become his responsibilty to continue it as, how to how his father Nigel, would approve.
I can though see, in about 5/6 years time, the Rightmove site -
Luxury Apartments in the Lower Loxley Stately Home, to be built soon. Apply for information.
I didn't clarify, as to why an alternative about LL was also shown.
DeleteIt is simply a potential future possibility..but I hope just a whimsical and early thought, for now.